The sport of waterfowl hunting is a highly popular sport throughout North America with hundreds of millions of dollars being spent on equipment, permits and ammunition each year.
One problem faced by all waterfowl hunters is that of glare. Glare from equipment, clothing, glasses and ammunition is sufficient to alert and alter the course of waterfowl, keeping them out of the range of hunters.
One cannot underestimate the degree to which hunters will go to ensure that glare is reduced. One solution employed in almost all hunting equipment today is the use of camouflage to reduce glare. Clothing, gun stocks and barrels, face masks, duck and goose calls and blinds are all disguised with a variety of camouflage patterns. The use of non-reflective decoys adds to further glare reduction.
Ammunition used in shotguns for waterfowl hunting is a shotshell. The shotshell has a brass hull and a polyethylene or paper case which fits into the hull. A primer is seated in the hull and a powder charge is placed into the hull. A wad is placed over the powder and a load of shot is then added to the case. The open end of the case is then sealed either by crimping or by a plastic disc placed inside a rim at the top end of the case. Optionally, a top wad may be placed over the shot before the case is closed.
Typically, manufacturers make the cases of the shotshell using brightly colored plastics and the brass hull is left exposed, both of which add to the shells visibility and glare. This is especially a problem when hunters shoot multiple shells each time a flock of birds flies over and the shells accumulate on the ground. There may be little time between successive flights of birds to attempt to both pick up birds which have been killed and pick up spent shell casings, which are ejected several feet away from a hunting blind. More effort is made to collect the birds and therefore the shell casing are likely to amass in large quantities around each hunting blind.
Many of the shotshell cases are slightly corrugated providing a non-smooth surface and the polyethylene used to make most modern cases has a natural greasiness which resists printing with many inks or paints. Both of these features result in a poor surface on which to print any type of patterns or non-reflective coating.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,384,518 to Albin and owned by Remington Arms Company Inc., describes a dry offset printer for cylindrical objects and particularly for use in printing onto shotshell cases. The process utilizes a three-roller system which includes ink, plate and blanket rolls, the blanket roller being a relatively soft elastomeric for printing onto corrugated shell cases. Applicant has noted that shells cases which are currently printed with manufacturer or distributor information are prone to loss or flaking of the printing off of the shell case as shotshells are carried in ammunition belts or loaded into guns.
Tolerances within the gun breach must be considered when adding any additional matter to the diameter of a shotshell, to prevent jamming during discharge of the gun and potential injury to the hunter.
Shotshells can be loaded manually or can be assembled in a highly automated process. Shotshells are produced in a plurality of lengths and also in a plurality of gauges. Because of the explosive nature of the product, the automated process must meet stringent safety requirements and must also meet rigid quality control standards due to a narrow range of acceptable size tolerances. Current printing processes are typically integrated into the automated process. Any process for providing indicia on the surface of the shotshell should be capable of full integration into an assembly line-type manufacture process and should not alter the effective diameter significantly to prevent jamming during discharge.
In some cases it may be advantageous to provide additional waterproofing or water resistance to the shotshell to ensure that the powder and primer remain active when in use especially in a highly aqueous environment such as found in natural wetlands. Shotshells will not properly fit into the breach of the shotgun if swelling occurs as a result of water penetration.
Significant efforts have been made by shotshell manufacturers to create water resistant shot wads as well as crimping techniques or seals at the open end of the case after loading of the shot and optionally, a water resistant or waterproof top wad. In some cases leakage into the shell case remains a problem. Further, compounds used to coat a shotshell after production are often messy or sticky to handle and may add irregularly to the diameter of the shotshell case causing problems with tolerances in the gun breach.
There is clearly a need to provide a shotshell that does not glare and more preferably that is camouflaged to suit a hunting environment so as not to be noticed by waterfowl within range of the hunter. Preferably, the shotshell should be water resistant if not waterproof for use in wetland situations or in inclement weather.